Hero Principal Sacrifices Her Own Life to Save Her Students
The word “hero” gets thrown around a lot these days, but if anyone ever earned the title it is Susan Jordan, an Indiana principal who died this week saving the lives of her students.
According to CNN, Jordan was a veteran educator at the Amy Beverland Elementary School in Lawrence Township, near Indianapolis, and she’d been a much beloved principal for more than 20 years. Everyone loved her and said she was a committed, dedicated teacher who really loved her students, and she sounds like the kind of person we all hope will be in charge when we send our own kids off to school.
After school on Tuesday Jordan was helping load the kids onto buses for the ride home when all of a sudden one of the buses lurched forward and jumped over the curb. The driver says she does not know what happened to make the bus veer out of control, but from the driver’s seat she saw Jordan push several students out of the bus’ path.
Two 10-year-olds were taken to the hospital in serious condition after the accident, but they will both survive thanks to the heroism of principal Jordan. Tragically, Jordan was hit by the bus and killed while saving the kids’ lives.
Jordan was amazing, and a testament to her profession. Too often smug, snarky people will disparage teachers by saying glib things like, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Not only is that untrue, it completely ignores the fact that there are good, caring people in the world who think that they can help make a difference in the world and contribute to society by shaping and educating children. Susan Jordan was a paragon of those virtues, and she made a huge difference, both in life and with her tragic death.
“They just loved her,” said Rita Reith with the Indianapolis Fire Department. “Up to the minute she was alive, she was helping the kids.”
“Susan was an amazing educator. She had a remarkable way of making everyone she came in contact with feel valued and important,” the school board said. “She had a passion for children that is unmatched. The entire Lawrence Township Community mourns her loss and extends our sympathy to the Amy Beverland Community the multitudes of people whose lives she touched.”
In May the school filmed a tribute video to Jordan to show how much they appreciated her. It’s great that she got to see it while she was alive and know that her work was appreciated and that she was making a difference. Now that she’s gone, the video is doubly inspiring, and it will almost certainly make you cry.
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